There’s no stopping Lukaku in the race for the Golden Boot

Romelu Lukaku has only avoided the scoresheet once for Manchester United in the Premier League so far this season, and the man who has upped his goalscoring output massively in each of the past three campaigns looks as though he will cruise to the Golden Boot in May.

Some were shocked by the £75 million that we paid Everton in the summer transfer window but Lukaku is already looking like a steal at that price. With four goals to his name after four games, the powerful Belgian is providing the clinical edge that we were missing for large parts of last season. In the 2016-17 campaign, we only managed to notch 54 goals. So far this season we are set to smash that weak tally, with nearly a quarter of it already matched after the 2-2 encounter with Stoke City on Saturday.

Lukaku is the hungry, potent striker Mourinho needed, and his fitness is remarkable. During the international break, the 24-year-old scored four goals for Belgium in two exceptional performances for his country. If the red-hot striker can continue this form into the World Cup next summer, Roberto Martinez’s Belgium will be strong contenders to win the tournament.

As it stands, the side who have already qualified for the competition in Russia can be backed at 16/1 in the international football betting to lift the trophy. What is even more remarkable is the fact that Lukaku came back from these showings for his country and still managed to turn it on and score for us.

It’s hard to think of anyone getting close to Lukaku while the Red Devils striker has the guile and craft of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba pulling the strings behind him. All the man who claimed 24 goals last season needs to do is be in the right place at the right time to receive goalscoring opportunities.

The bookies now, quite rightly, have placed our striker as the most likely player to top the scoring charts after the final ball is kicked this season. But could anyone usurp him? After his usual August drought, the winner of the past two Golden Boots, Harry Kane, finally managed to find the back of the net for Tottenham Hotspur. But with Spurs struggling to fit into their new surroundings at Wembley, the England international may not be able to live up to the exceptional output of the past three seasons.

Alvaro Morata has settled in nicely at Chelsea, but the Spaniard will not have penalty duties now that Eden Hazard has returned to the fold. Manchester City’s attacking duo of Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero looked dangerous together against Liverpool but they are likely to share the goals between them and are also prone to Pep Guardiola’s penchant for rotation.

It will be interesting to see what happens when Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns from injury because there is no way that the Swede will be able to oust Lukaku if the Belgian continues this impervious form. It would be handy to use the former Paris Saint-Germain striker in the cup competitions, though, and keep Lukaku fresh to dominate in the league. This could certainly be something for Mourinho to consider.